Eli Gemstone

Eli Gemstone (1952-) was an American televangelist and Pentecostal megachurch pastor from South Carolina who was the patriarch of the Gemstone family.

Biography
Eli Gemstone was born on the coast of South Carolina in 1952, and he claimed that he was called to serve Jesus while he was still a small boy. He founded the Gemstone Salvation Center in 1979 with his wife Aimee-Leigh Gemstone, and, through his writing, sermons, and television show, "The Righteous Gemstones", he reached over 18 million viewers monthly in 70 countries. He became a multi-millionaire from the televangelism and megachurch industry, and he soon included his sons Jesse and Kelvin in his megachurch as evangelists, while his daughter Judy Gemstone worked as a secretary. The Gemstones settled on a massive family compound in rural South Carolina, where each of the family members had their own mansion, and they were protected by a private army of well-trained security guards. During the 2010s, the Gemstone family attempted to expand their megachurch at the expense of smaller congregations, undertaking trips both across America and across the world, including a 24-Hour Baptism Marathon in Chengdu, China in 2019.